Many people involved in the manufacture of homemade equipment also develop crawler-mounted all-terrain vehicles and homemade tracks for walk-behind tractors. When bringing this idea to life, people use a variety of solutions. But making tracks remains a big problem for fans of this type of transport.
After all, if an all-terrain vehicle or snowmobile is made with your own hands, then the tracks must be homemade.
A very simple version of caterpillars
It is very common among DIYers to make tracks using car tires. For this purpose, tires with a suitable tread pattern are selected from trucks.
To make such a caterpillar, you need to cut out the sides from the tire and leave the treadmill. This is quite a labor-intensive job that requires a lot of patience, because the tool used is a sharpened shoe knife.
To make the work easier, from time to time the knife blade can be moistened in a soap solution to cut the rubber faster. One option is to use a homemade cutting jig, or use a jigsaw with a fine-tooth file.
After cutting off the sides, if the track is too hard, you can remove the extra layers of rubber inside the resulting ring. If the tread pattern is not suitable for the conditions of use, then a new lug structure is cut.
The undoubted advantage of a homemade caterpillar made from a tire over a caterpillar made from a transport belt is that it is initially a closed loop, and therefore reliable. The disadvantage of this caterpillar is the limited width of the workpiece, which can be corrected by using a double-width option.
Each driver personally decides for himself whether to buy tracks or make them himself. We will consider both aspects, but each of them is only advisable if the car drives not only on the highway. Tracks are a great way to increase a car’s off-road capability, and for many motorists such tuning is a necessity. Is it worth buying tracks for the Niva if you can make them yourself?
Problems with transporting incredibly heavy camp equipment and connecting hunting grounds to public transport are pressing for every hunter. An SUV, even one like the Niva, solves these problems only partially, since there remain obstacles in the form of gullies, slopes and off-road conditions that a car on standard wheels cannot cope with. There is an urgent need to convert your vehicles to caterpillar tracks. How to make tracks for a Niva in three ways, in which cases is it better to buy ready-made ones?
In the production of tracks, special rubber is used with a special substance in its composition, thanks to which even aggressive weather conditions do not reduce their strength and elasticity. The weight of one caterpillar can vary between 75 - 110 kg, which is influenced by the design of the product and its type. Despite this weight, transforming the Niva into an all-terrain vehicle is not difficult, since the caterpillar easily rolls along the ground, there is no need to lift or drag it.
There is also nothing complicated in the design of the tracked mover - a powerful metal frame in the shape of a triangle, one large roller at the top and five pairs or more of smaller ones at the bottom. The caterpillar dresses on them.
The classic wheel hub is installed in the upper roller, then it is mounted on a rigid coupling so that when the hub rotates, it transmits rotational movements to the entire structure. The key advantage is the ability to turn the steering wheel as if it had wheels. If necessary, the tracks for the car are removed and replaced with regular tracks.
What are caterpillars for? Pros and cons of the design
The majority of the audience of drivers who install tracks on their cars consists of extreme sports enthusiasts, hunters and fishermen, who, in pursuit of pristine beauty and maximum comfort, do not skimp on elements of car modernization. Considering the purpose of using your own car and the size of your wallet, you will have to choose between buying tracks and making them yourself. If you go off-road extremely rarely, and most often your Niva only sees the highway, there is no point in buying it.
If you are interested in fishing and hunting, then increasing the cross-country ability of the vehicle due to such a modification is vital in order to master new cordons, as well as safely, quickly and comfortably get to the so-called fishing spots. After installation you will notice the following positive changes:
- The level of comfort when driving off-road increases significantly; the difference between wheels and caterpillar tracks is felt immediately.
- The speed of the car increases when moving through snowy, swampy or sandy terrain. Indicators reach 80 km/h.
- The cross-country ability of the vehicle also increases and this parameter can be compared with the cross-country ability of the Belarus tractor. The only limitation is the ground clearance, which for the Niva is 30 cm.
The first tracks on cars appeared about 100 years ago, and during this time car enthusiasts fully appreciated their advantages, however disadvantages also exist:
- A set of tracks is expensive, and when making a homemade structure, you cannot do without basic skills and additional equipment.
- Slopes, hills and terrain with sudden elevation changes can pose a challenge to the suspension and drivetrain systems as a vehicle of this size requires more track area.
- It is also not always possible to move over a fallen tree trunk or similar obstacle.
Main manufacturers and prices
The first tracked mechanisms were developed in the USA, after which they were distributed throughout the world. Now several dozen manufacturers, including domestic ones, are engaged in the production of such structures. Of the imported brands, Mattracks is considered one of the most popular. Their prices correspond to the big name - one set corresponds to the cost of a Russian car.
Several companies are now engaged in the production of tracks for passenger cars, but such a purchase, again, will not be cheap. Pricing depends on the following factors:
- diameter of bearings and axles;
- metal thickness and quality;
- design features.
When choosing imported caterpillar mechanisms, focus on a price of 230 - 700 thousand rubles. By deciding to buy tracks for the Niva from a domestic manufacturer, you can cut costs in half.
Development of Chelyabinsk engineers
Engineers from Chelyabinsk offer an alternative design, thanks to which the vehicle will be able to conquer not only off-road conditions, but also water. Movement on water is ensured by quick-detachable pontoons fixed to the chassis.
When not needed, they can be stored on a wheeled ski trailer or trunk. Installation of tracks in this case is somewhat more labor-intensive when compared with classic track mechanisms, the installation of which does not take more than an hour. You will have to follow the step-by-step instructions:
- At the first stage, the car should be placed on the tracked module, get rid of the wheels and lower the suspension onto the catchers.
- Next, the car is attached to the frame, and the module bridge is connected to the cardan.
- At the final stage, the control unit is installed and the hydraulic system is pumped.
It takes at least 2 hours for such an all-terrain mechanism to be installed, after which control is available via the steering wheel. After the next off-road raid, the car is put back on the platform, and the tracked modules replace the usual wheels. The asking price is 100 thousand rubles. and higher.
Is it possible to make caterpillars with your own hands?
If the cost of a ready-made set of tracks discourages you, you can consider the option of making it yourself, but you should know in advance about the labor intensity of such a process. You must be proficient in metalworking equipment at a master level and have design skills. Garage production may not even be considered, since you will have to use special machines and tools for turning hubs, assembling and installing sprockets, shafts and bearings.
There are three ways in which the Niva track you make will perform its functions - from a conveyor belt, from car tires or from belts. These will be the simplest structures, which, despite their functionality and maintainability, cannot be called full-fledged tracks.
Conveyor belt tracks
To assemble the track kit, you can use a conveyor belt 8 - 10 mm thick and a bushing-roller chain. Be sure to sew the edges of the ribbon with fishing line to strengthen it and avoid fraying. Use a blanket stitch. The hinge can be used to connect the ends of the tape. Connection by stitching can also be used, but the reliability will be questionable. In general, this design inspires confidence in terms of reliability and can be easily repaired.
Also, tracks can be made from a conveyor belt using a rectangular profile pipe. To do this, you must first give the tracks the required shape using a pressing machine. You can use nuts and bolts to secure the tracks to the tape. We will look at this technology in more detail. You will need the following tools and materials:
- pressing machine;
- hammer and set of keys;
- hole puncher;
- drill, angle grinder and welding machine;
- fittings and profile pipe;
- screws, washers, nuts and bolts;
- conveyer belt.
The step-by-step technology is as follows:
- Taking into account the width of the track being made, use a grinder to cut the track blanks.
- Press the workpieces on the machine to give them the required shape, use waste oil to lubricate the ends.
- Weld fangs-limiters onto each track and additionally V-shaped fittings at the top.
- At the track installation site, check the correct dimensions.
- Use an industrial hole punch to create holes in the conveyor belt. You can make such a hole punch yourself - it will be a tube sharpened at the end with a side hole for removing rubber waste.
- Drill two holes in the tracks on each edge.
- At the final stage, you will be assembled the caterpillar.
Caterpillars made from car tires
If you decide to use car tires to make tracks, you should choose them with the appropriate tread pattern, which will replace the lugs. Tires from tractors or trucks will do. Carefully remove the tire beads using a well-sharpened shoe knife. Periodically wet the blade in soapy water to make cutting easier.
If you have the skills to use an electric jigsaw, you can use this tool in tandem with a fine-toothed file.
To achieve the required level of elasticity, several layers of the inner ring can be removed. Compared with the first option (conveyor belt + bush-roller chain), car tires are more reliable, since the contour of the ring in this case is closed and the ends do not need to be connected.
Belt tracks
Track kits made from belts also fall into the category of easy-to-manufacture designs. Grousers are used to assemble the track from V-shaped rubber belts. The connection is made using small bolts and rivets. The interval between the belts must correspond to the dimensions of the drive sprocket. Use rivets to secure the ends of the resulting fabric.
conclusions
To summarize, it is worth mentioning the ease of installation of the tracks, which takes less than an hour, unless of course we are talking about a Chelyabinsk invention.
Before installation, weld special triangle-shaped gussets to the Niva axles to strengthen them. As for homemade designs, they are unlikely to compete with factory versions in terms of reliability, but they will be an excellent solution for single raids for game or fish.
With the development of technology, more and more different designs of mechanisms that are used in winter are appearing. But with the arrival of spring, such cars remain unclaimed until the next season, and their owners have to change their means of transportation. It is unprofitable and impractical to have two vehicles that differ only in the chassis. And the excellent solution was to create a snowmobile motorcycle that would be universal and could be used equally successfully in winter and summer. To do this, you can make a homemade caterpillar.
I’ve been thinking about getting one for a long time, but I decided to refrain from buying an industrial Buran. And not only because this car is not cheap and, intended only for winter use, only takes up space in the garage in the summer. It happens that you get ready to go fishing in early spring, but the road to a nearby body of water is already clear of snow, and “Buran” will no longer pass. But, unfortunately, an old friend - a motorcycle - will not help here: beyond the side of the road the snow is still deep and loose.
A popular model is the snowmobile mechanism, the basis for which was an IZH motorcycle with a sidecar.
The essence of the modification is that the rear wheel will be replaced with a caterpillar, and the remaining wheels with wide skis made of metal. After such simple manipulations, your motorcycle will turn into a snowmobile that will easily pass snow drifts and climbs, and on the road reach speeds of up to 40 km/h. The process of re-equipping to the summer version and back will not take much time (about 15 minutes). And the compact size of the track and ski set will allow you to always keep it at hand.
The design of the skis, which we will install in place of the front wheel and the stroller wheel, is quite simple. They can be made from a duralumin sheet riveted with longitudinal corners, due to which the skis will acquire longitudinal rigidity. Next, you need to attach two metal strips to the corners, and between the strips, use two bolts to fix the wheel. The sliding surface for skis can be made of stainless steel, brass or polyethylene. This will significantly reduce friction on the snow. And to improve controllability, you need to make a special undercut on the front ski - a steel vertical rib on the lower flat part.
DIY caterpillars drawings
The caterpillar mover, installed in place of the removed rear wheel of the motorcycle, is more difficult to manufacture.
How to make a DIY caterpillar for a motorcycle
Its frame is welded from steel pipes with a diameter of 30 and a diameter of 20 mm and four steel plates 8 mm thick. Longitudinal grooves in the plates are designed to connect the front and rear shafts of the track support drums and adjust its tension. A steel sleeve is welded to the vertical tubular arc. When installed on a motorcycle, the axle of the removed rear wheel passes through its hole. The eyelet in the front part* of this arch serves to attach a special unit with which the entire frame is fixed to the rear fork of the motorcycle. And two similar ears, welded under the longitudinal pipes, are necessary to connect the balancer axis. In addition, these pipes have stops at the ends for the threaded track tensioner.The shafts of the front and rear support drums of the caterpillar are machined from steel rod 0 25 mm. At the ends of each, journals are machined for bearing No. 204, and in the middle part sprockets (Z=17) of the transmission chains and support drum flanges are welded. Since only the front shaft is driving, the rear sprocket is not used, but the shafts are completely interchangeable, which can be useful if the sprocket fails.
The bearing housings of these shafts are machined from steel blanks. In addition to the bearing housing, they have axial holes for fastening the frame plates and a radial hole (in place) for a long pin used as a caterpillar tensioning rod.
The housing covers have a groove for installing a sealing collar and are attached to the housing with IVI5 bolts.
The caterpillar support drums are machined from duralumin blanks and assembled from two halves with six MB bolts. During assembly, drive sprockets cut from a thick rubber sheet are clamped between them - on the front shaft and cylindrical rollers - on the rear. The teeth of the drive sprockets transmit force to the track, engaging the lugs through the gap between the track strips. And the drums themselves roll along the inside of the track. Semicircular grooves on their outer surface are made so that the heads of the screws that attach the lugs to the tape do not interfere with operation.
The caterpillar consists of four strips 56 mm wide, cut from a conveyor belt and connected together by common lugs - steel U-shaped profiles bent from strips 2 mm thick.
The front track shaft is driven by a chain drive from a drive sprocket (Z=42) installed in place of the wheel. The sprocket itself is borrowed from the IZH-10 motorcycle. It is attached with six Mb bolts to a pre-processed forest hub, as shown in the drawing. This part is mounted on the rear fork in the same way as the rear wheel with the addition of a simple spacer.
The intermediate supports of the caterpillar propulsion system are balancers - four double-armed levers mounted on a common axis with roller axles fixed at the ends.
Not finding wheels suitable in size and strength for the balancer, I made them myself. Using a simple stamp, I squeezed out halves of wheel disks from round steel plates, turned out bronze hubs - plain bearings and a mold for roller tires. By connecting the half-discs with six bolts, I got a durable wheel that can be easily repaired in case of wear.
Many residents of northern latitudes and places with poor cross-country ability are engaged in the development and assembly of various equipment with increased cross-country ability. Tracked all-terrain vehicles are no exception. There are a large number of different options for creating such technology. But the most problematic issue for all-terrain vehicle designers is the manufacture of tracks.
You can, of course, use factory-made ones, but having completely assembled an all-terrain vehicle with your own hands, you want to have caterpillars of your own production. Today, there are several options for creating such propulsors, which practically do not differ in their technical characteristics from the factory ones.
A simple version of caterpillars
The simplest option for snowmobiles is made from a conventional roller-bushing chain and conveyor belt. Moreover, its production does not require any special equipment or tools. In this case, the work can be done almost in the middle of the living room.
In order for the conveyor belt to serve for a long time, it is necessary to sheathe its edges with fishing line with a distance between stitches of about one centimeter. This activity is very similar to seamstress stitching fabric. In any case, such firmware will prevent the tape from unraveling while driving. You can fasten the ends together in any suitable way. A swivel joint similar to a piano hinge might work for this, or just sew it together, but it's unlikely to last long.
The thickness of the conveyor belt depends on the power of the power unit. If the all-terrain vehicle is equipped with an engine from a Soviet-made motorcycle, then a tape 0.8–1 cm thick, used on conveyors in agriculture, has proven itself to be excellent. To give the track rigidity, it is necessary to attach a bushing-roller chain to its inner part. This can be done using bolts or rigid steel wire. The main thing is that the chain fits tightly into the surface of the conveyor belt.
Caterpillars made in this way are distinguished by their long-term operation, although they are easy to manufacture. In addition, if necessary, you can easily carry out repairs, even in the field.
Tire propellers
Many owners of snowmobiles use regular car tires as tracks for their equipment. For these purposes, you need truck tires, and you should choose them with the required pattern so as not to complicate your work in the future.
To make a caterpillar mover from a tire, you need to cut off the sides, leaving only the part with the tread. This activity takes a lot of effort and requires patience, since the work requires only a well-sharpened shoe knife.
In order to make manufacturing a little easier, you need to periodically wet the knife with soapy water, which will make the process of cutting rubber easier. Some use specially designed devices for these purposes. You can also use an electric jigsaw with a fine-tooth file attached to it. It also needs to be watered with soapy water.
The first step is to cut off the beads from the tire. Next, if necessary, you need to remove several inner layers in the resulting track. This is done to give it softness. If the tread pattern is not satisfactory, then you should start cutting a new one, which is quite a painstaking task.
This type of track lugs has one undeniable advantage over the previous option. Since it is solid, without joints, its reliability is much higher. One of the negative aspects is the small width of the track, but to increase it, two or three tires can be spliced together.
Belt tracks
The ease of manufacturing of such tracked propulsion systems is increasingly attracting all-terrain vehicle owners to use them on their vehicles. Belts with a wedge-shaped profile are assembled into a single structure using lugs, which are attached to the belts using rivets or screws.
As a result, it turns out that the caterpillar track already has holes for the sprocket. To do this, it is necessary to lay the belts at small intervals.
Making tracks for an all-terrain vehicle
The name all-terrain vehicle refers to a vehicle with increased cross-country ability. These include tractors, snowmobiles, SUVs and tanks. Since often from improvised vehicles. Initially, this involves motorcycles or scooters, but the end result is a vehicle that is not afraid of either off-road or dirt. The increased cross-country ability of an all-terrain vehicle mainly depends on its tracked propulsion units, which are mounted on wheels.
In this version, the caterpillar will have four stripes 5 centimeters wide. They must be cut from a regular conveyor belt. Then connect the sides using a P-shaped profile. Next, you need to make balancers. Using a stamp, you need to make parts for the floor of the wheel from sheet steel. After this, it is necessary to make hubs from bronze. The half wheels should be connected with six bolts. The balancers are ready.
The next step is to produce the shafts for the track support drums. They should have holes for the bearings. Drums can be made from duralumin blanks. When connecting them together, you need to insert a rubber sprocket. It turns out that the caterpillar is driven by a drive sprocket with a chain drive. It is installed on the rear fork.
After which the entire caterpillar should be assembled into a single whole.
The vertical arc must be equipped with a steel bushing through which the wheel axle passes. A mechanism is attached to the eye on this bushing that secures the structure of the rear fork. Track balancers are attached to the remaining ears of the all-terrain vehicle. The mover is ready to use.
As you can see, you can make a caterpillar in different ways, the main thing is to have patience and desire.
In rural life, a tractor is an important piece of equipment. It is especially necessary when farming. Without him it’s like without hands. Bags of grain, harvested hay, potato harvest, or simply building materials - all of this must be transported in some way. It is very difficult to move such loads manually, but a small mechanical assistant can handle this quite easily. Today, buying such a unit for the farm is an expensive pleasure for many. It will be much easier and cheaper to assemble such a small tractor on tracks with your own hands at home. Moreover, the parts for it may have long been lying forgotten in the household yard and waiting in the wings.
Frame
The main structure, which bears the entire load, of any mechanical unit is the frame. As you can see from the video, creating a strong metal base for a mini crawler tractor is an important step. It’s easy to do it yourself if you do the calculations correctly and take into account the loads.
As shown in the video, a welding machine will be needed to make the frame. Increased rigidity of the structure of the unit base on tracks is created by spars made of durable material. Usually they are made with their own hands in 3 stages - the outer ones are made of durable channel, and the inner ones are made of square iron pipes of increased rigidity.
It is worth remembering that the front yoke needs to be designed shorter than its rear counterpart. The video shows that if the front traverse is made from channel size 12, then the rear part of the frame must be made from channel size 16.Power unit
The second important step in creating a home assistant on a tracked chassis is choosing an engine. As you can see from the video, any motor will do for the mini tractor being created if it is suitable in terms of power and torque. The ideal option here would be to install a 12 hp diesel engine with four cylinders and water cooling.
Another good option in solving this issue would be a motor from a Sadko walk-behind tractor. To reduce the speed in such an engine, you will need to install additional pulleys yourself. Such homemade structures reduce the rotation speed of the crankshaft of a mini tractor by 3.5 times.
Bridge
Typically, installing a bridge does not cause any difficulties. To do this, you will not need to make additional structural changes to the unit frame. A bridge removed from any model of a domestic car is ideal here.
For example, for a mini tractor you can use a rear axle from GAZ-21 Volga. You just have to shorten it yourself to a width of 800 mm and cut off the rivets on the fixing stockings so that all the mechanical elements can be placed.
Caterpillar
Homemade unit chassis are quite easy to make at home. To do this, you will need a set of wheels, for example from a cart and an old tire from the wheel of a large car. The dimensions of these elements for the mini tractor chassis must be selected based on the dimensions of the machine being created. Homemade caterpillars are easy to make. You need to cut off the sides of the prepared tire and put it on the mounted wheels. It is important here not to make a mistake in size.
Other mechanisms
Every mechanic understands that the tracked unit being designed will not be able to move independently without a clutch and gearbox assembly. As the last element, you can use a switching device removed from a GAZ-53 truck. The clutch, taken from a GAZ-52 car, will fit perfectly into the design of the future home assistant.
Build process
Principle of operation
Homemade units are usually combined according to a certain algorithm. It is important to follow this, since some spare parts will have to be adjusted to fit other parts. Without an established assembly order, this will be difficult to accomplish.
Accessories for minitratoktoa
Sprocket blank
The leading sprockets are ready
Frame with tracks assembled
Bottom view - installation of tracks
Side view
Front view
The design sequence in practice looks like this:
- Assembling frame elements into a single structure. Installation of drive wheels and road wheels.
- Installing the motor and connecting it to the gearbox.
- Placement of brake units and differential element. Mechanical connection of these elements with the gearbox.
- Design of the control unit and equipment of the driver's seat.
- Assembly and installation of tracks, as well as additional auxiliary elements.
- Checking the operating condition of units and systems of the unit. If necessary, modify them.
- Running in the tractor.
If we consider the operating principle of a homemade mechanism, we can easily establish that it is not much different from its mass-produced counterparts. In a word, all the main functions are performed as in conventional tractors on tracks. There is only one difference - a simplified deployment system.
The operating principle of the homemade mechanism looks like this:
- The motor transmits torque to the gearbox.
- The torque is supplied to the differential system, where it is distributed to the axle shaft.
- The wheels begin the propulsion process, which is transmitted to the tracks. The tractor starts moving in the given direction.
- The turning function is that one axle shaft is braked, and all the torque is transferred to the other axle shaft. Due to braking, one track begins to move around the other braked chassis. This is how the unit rotates.
- Before you begin assembling the tracked unit, you must first create drawings of the main and additional components, containing accurate calculations.
- Before starting work, you need to make sure that the welding machine, electric drill with all attachments and grinder are in working order.
- Assembly must be done with great care. All bolts and nuts must be tightened with reliable sensitivity. Each weld seam must be carefully cleaned.
When assembling, you should remember that the tractor you are creating will become a reliable and indispensable assistant in solving many household issues.